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Ferruginous Babbler

Siddhartha Mukherjee

Pellorneum bicolor

Sungai Congkak, Malaysia

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For this week I thought of returning to the babblers again and this time for the Ferruginous Babbler observed and photographed in the forests of Sungai Congkak. I have written about some of the various babblers, warblers, parrotbills, white-eyes, fulvettas, laughingthrushes and their allies from across Asia Pacific in numerous earlier blogs and also a collection of my babblers: Old World Babblers.

The Old World Babblers are a family of mostly Old World passerine birds rather diverse in size and coloration, characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The timaliids are one of two unrelated groups of birds known as babblers, the other being the Australasian babblers of the family Pomatostomidae (also known as pseudo-babblers). Morphological diversity is rather high; most species resemble warblers, jays or thrushes.

In an earlier blog I have included the genus of passerines known as Pnoepyga endemic to southern and south eastern Asia. The Pnoepyga contains five species with its members known as cupwings or wren-babblers and they have long been placed in the babbler family Timaliidae. But a 2009 study of the DNA of the families Timaliidae and the Old World warblers (Sylviidae) found no support for the placement of the genus in either family, prompting the authors to erect a new monogeneric family, the Pnoepygidae.

These are all part of the superfamily Sylvioidea, one of at least three major clades within the Passerida along with the Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea. It contains about 1300 species including the Old World warblers, Old World babblers, swallows, larks and bulbuls. Members of the clade are found worldwide, with fewer species present in the Americas. Some of the families within the Sylvioidea have been greatly redefined. In particular, the Old World warbler family Sylviidae and Old World babbler family Timaliidae were used as waste-bin taxa and included many species which have turned out not to be closely related. Several new families have been created and some species have been moved from one family to another - to the extent that when I took some of these photos I had different names for them to what they are currently named in this article.

The Babbler group:

This list is an extract from the list of 25 families is based on the molecular phylogenetic study published by Silke Fregin and colleagues in 2012 and the revisions of the babbler group by Cai et al (2019) The family sequence and number of species is from the online list of world birds maintained by Frank Gill and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

Illustrated in this blog is one of the Pellorneidae or ground babblers - the Ferruginous Babbler - I was fortunate to observe and photograph in the forests near Sungai Congkak in Malaysia. As always I have some room around the bird to let it breathe and also to provide a glimpse into its typical perches and habitats.

Pellorneidae

The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Morphological diversity is rather high; most species resemble warblers, jays or thrushes, making field identification difficult.

The family Pellorneidae was first introduced by the French-American ornithologist Jean Théodore Delacour in 1946. Pellorneidae used to be one of four subfamilies of Timaliidae (tree- and scimitar-babblers), but was then elevated to its own family rank in 2011 based on molecular markers.

Divided between being terrestrial and arboreal, Pellorneidae have strong legs. They usually have generalised bills, similar to those of a thrush or warbler, with the exception of the long-billed wren-babbler (Napothera malacoptila) and both species of scimitar babbler from the Jabouilleia genus which have long, curved bills. Most jungle babblers have predominantly brown plumage with little sexual dimorphism, but brightly coloured species of this family also exist. Many jungle babblers have distinctive 'eyebrows' and 'caps' which may help to differentiate them from similarly-sized and coloured species.

This group is not strongly migratory, and most species have short rounded wings, and a weak flight. They live in lightly wooded or scrubland environments, ranging from swamp to near-desert. They are primarily insectivorous, although many will also take berries, and the larger species will even eat small lizards and other vertebrates.

Jungle babblers are generally non-migratory, social birds, defined by their lack of seasonal plumage and unspotted juvenile plumage. These birds tend to be shy, but a few species are highly territorial and respond to playbacks of their vocalisations. Breeding behaviour is not well known for all species of jungle babbler, but some birds, such as the Streaked wren-babbler (Napothera brevicaudata) have adapted to their habitat by nesting in holes or shallow cavities in the limestone cliffs and boulders of their region. Others nest on the ground or in trees or shrubs. Care of nestlings by both parents is common, and cooperative breeding is prevalent among babblers

Sungai Congkak

About 35 kilometres from both Kuala Lumpur city center and Selangor’s Kajang town, lies the Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest, or Hutan Lipur Sungai Congkak. Also known as Chongkak Park & Resort, it is s a popular recreational forest in the Hulu Langat district of Selangor state and is managed by Tourism Selangor.

A dipterocarp rainforest that is part of the great Titiwangsa mountain range, Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest is rich in flora and fauna with meandering, crystal-clear rivers. Nestled in a cool and hilly area of Hulu Langat, the route leading to the forest passes through quaint towns and villages where the pace of life is noticeably slower.

Slightly deeper into Sungai Congkak Recreational Forest is the starting point of a challenging hiking trail to Bukit Chenuang (Chenuang Hill) which takes about an hour. Reaching an altitude of about 850 meters, the peak here provides great views of the surrounding valley. From Bukit Chenuang, one can continue hiking the trail to Bukit Batu Kumbang, which is about an hour away. The views of the Titiwangsa mountain range from the peak of Bukit Batu Kumbang make it a worthwhile hike.

Ferruginous Babbler

Pellorneidae are found throughout the tropics of Asia and Africa. Preferring sheltered places, these birds tend to stick to the undergrowth or forest edge

Originally placed within Timaliidae as a subfamily, Pellorneidae was elevated into family status following a closer analysis of the superfamily Sylvioidea. Sylvioidea was initially considered too complex to differentiate using morphology due to multiple instances of convergent evolution, and it wasn't until molecular analysis was conducted that the superfamily was recognised to be non-monophyletic - hence Pellorneidae being recognised as a family. Pellorneidae is ia sister to a clade containing the families Leiothrichidae and Alcippeidae.

The Ferruginous Babbler is a reddish-brown babbler with white underparts. Their general appearance resembles the White-chested Babbler but are much more warmly-colored. They forage in small flocks in the lower and middle levels of lowland and lower foothill forests and give a loud, explosive “chew-WIT!” and various chattering and rasping notes.

They are about 16·5–18 cm long and weigh between 27–34 g. The Ferruginous is a smallish babbler, rufous-brown above and creamy below, with brighter rufous tail and rather long hook-tipped bill. The crown is pale dull rufous, with greyish-buff lores and vague supercilium, buffy-brown ear-coverts; mantle to rump and upperwing-coverts dull rufous-brown, wing fringed dull rufous, tail brighter rufous; underparts buffy whitish or creamy white, breast with slightly darker shading, somewhat variable individually; iris pale brown, sometimes reddish-brown, rarely red; upper mandible pale brown, lower mandible paler, flesh or greyish, sometimes slightly yellow at base; legs flesh-brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile is brighter and warmer above than adult, with mantle and crown almost as bright as tail.

They are distributed from extreme S Myanmar (extreme S Tenasserim), S Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra (including Bangka) and Borneo. Their preferred habitat is closed-canopy lowland evergreen mixed dipterocarp forest, selectively logged forest, upland heath forest, old rubber plantations, older Albizia plantations adjacent to forest, scrub left by shifting agriculture; also swamp-forest and locally in mangroves in Sumatra; commonest in primary forest in Sumatra. They are usually found below 200 m in SE Asia; below 600 m in Sumatra, above 920 m in Borneo (Sarawak).

The Ferruginous Babbler is not globally threatened and is generally fairly common to common in the continental part of their range, including Taman Negara National Park, in Peninsular Malaysia. Local and moderately common throughout Borneo, and judged common in Sabah, including Danum Valley Conservation Area; present in Similajau National Park (Sarawak), and uncommon in Tanjung Puting National Park (S Kalimantan). Present in Gunung Leuser, Bukit Tigapuluh (common to fairly common) and Way Kambas (frequent) National Parks, in Sumatra; recorded from the now destroyed Padang-Sugihan Wildlife Reserve, in S Sumatra.

Now for the photos of this handsome babbler of dense vegetation.

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This is but a glimpse into the beautiful world of the babblers and the tremendous variety in the species and that they are still being discovered. Do subscribe if you liked what you saw and if you would like to continue to read these insights into the beautiful birds and animals inhabiting our planet.

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